The streets in downtown Crandall were lined with parents, students, CISD administration, and plenty of locals to send the Pirates off in fashion. Both police and fire escorted the buses out of town and stopped for high fives and confetti cannons in front of the police station. The Pirates were headed forty minutes down the road to Grand Prairie where they would take on Midlothian Heritage.
The Pirates matched up well with the one-loss Jaguars in what would be a battle to the final horn. Crandall was the home team for this matchup at the Gopher-Warrior Bowl. Midlothian Heritage won the toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game.
Jaguars quarterback Kaden Brown came onto the field hoping to strike first blood. The Pirate defense had other plans in mind. Brown rushed the ball on third down and was stopped for a loss of four. The Pirates took over on the 50-yard line. Moffitt led a drive down to the Jaguars 13-yard line before fumbling the ball on a rush play with the Jaguars recovering.
Heritage took that gift and struck first on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Brown. The Pirates would take the ball and give it right back after a quick three and out. Brown didn’t waste any time hitting his receiver in stride for a 65-yard touchdown reception on the third play of the drive. The Jaguars were up 14-0 late in the first quarter.
Coach Hardin’s offense came alive in the next drive. Luke Moffitt hit Deondre Bowmen over the middle of the field for a 13-yard completion. The next six plays would be rushes for a total of 57 yards from junior running back Andrew Anderson and Moffitt. The last one being a ten-yard rush by Moffitt into the endzone. Midlothian Heritage led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Both defenses would be on display for the next three possessions, forcing the special teams from both sides to execute. The Pirate defense came up with a big stop forcing the Jaguars to kick a field goal. Senior kicker Dylan Riggins nailed it from 38 yards out making the score 17-7 Midlothian Heritage.
The quick scoring Pirate offense did not take long to answer. Moffitt hit Senior Samuel Omosigho on a quick route, breaking multiple tackles for the 73-yard touchdown. The lead was cut to three points with Midlothian Heritage still on top.
Senior defensive end Aidan Ross came up big time on the first play of the next drive. Ross stripped the ball from Brown’s hands, forcing the fumble and the Pirates to recover! Crandall took over on the Jaguars own 46-yard line and put together a seven-play scoring drive. Moffitt ran it in from one yard out for his second rushing touchdown on the evening. The Pirates took the lead going into halftime, 21-17, and would receive the ball to start the second half.
Crandall came out in the third quarter ready to attack. Moffitt drove the offense down the field and ran the ball in from seven yards out for his third rush-ing touchdown on the evening. The Pirates led, 28-17, with ten minutes left in the quarter.
A couple of series later, Crandall was forced to punt deep in their own endzone. It ended up costing them a safety on the mishandled snap by punter Brandon Perez. This was the only other score in the third, as Crandall led 28-19 going into the fourth quarter.
Brown put together a big drive at the end of the third to put them into scoring position. The Jaguars direct snapped the ball to Xavionte Jackson who ran it in for the score from two yards out. The Pirates’ lead shrunk to 28-26 with 11 minutes left in the game.
Crandall did not let that faze them. On the second play of the drive, Anderson took the handoff from Moffitt 75 yards for the score. Crandall led by nine points with a little over ten minutes left in the game.
Midlothian Heritage would answer right back with a quick six-play scoring drive. Junior defender Kendrick Jones blocked the extra point attempt as Jaylon Washington came off the other edge. Washington scooped up the ball and ran it back 80 yards for the two points. Crandall was up 37-32 with eight minutes left in the game.
In the end, Heritage’s defense was too much for the Pirates as they stopped them on the next drive, allowing their offense to score the go-ahead touchdown. The Pirates’ last chance to score was picked off by Jackson and taken back for the score. The Pirates fell to Midlothian Heritage 37-45.
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